December 2008
2008 has been an incredible year for both Dunnett Classic and The George Way drum company. I could fill endless pages thanking everyone their support and encouragement. To my family, friends and wonderful clients I say with sincere humility - thank-you.
Everytime I sit down to update the news section I'm just...shocked at how fast things are moving. I used to have the time to do this once a month but now...anyway the world is surely a different place than it was a mere 5 months ago. It's almost 2009 and I don't know about you but I think the world suddenly got a bit brighter on November 4. So, moving right along and heading towards NAMM (the show we love to hate and hate to love) it's time to roll out some of the special projects for the new year...
6515SJT-P 6.5" x 14" Steel - The James Trussart Collection
You may recall in the previous news post that I was working on a special project named JT3. A year ago at NAMM I was checking out some of the non-drum related exibitors and came across the work of James Trussart. Trussart is famous for his guitars which have a very unique and very metallic look and feel to them. I wa quite taken by the finishes and asked if they might be interested in working on a joint project to make - you guessed it - some snare drums. What you see above was the answer I got. While it seems unlikely that a guitar manufacturer and a drum manufacturer could work together to come up with something this original, well, we did it! The shells are regualr carbon steel which have a somewhat more transparent sound than stainless steel. Several finishes and patterns are being offered including what you see here - Paisley, Gator and Roses.
The Stanton Moore Drum Company
I'm very pleased to have been part of a project that had many twists and turns, the end product being what you see here: Stanton Moore's 'Spirirt of New Orleans' snare drum. Stanton and I spent a number of years developing and perfecting a metal snare drum that he felt truly defined him as an artist. The Spirirt of New Orleans will makes it's debut at the Bosphorus booth at the upcoming 2009 Winter NAMM show.
We miss you Bill.
The Buddy Rich Memorial Concert
This October I was fortunate enough to have been invited to be the official photographer for the Buddy Rich Memorial concert in New York City. It was without a doubt one of the highlights of my year. It was my first visit to New York and between the city and the event I was completely overwhelmed. John Backwell, Terry Bozzio, Chad Smith, Tommy Igoe, Peter Erskine, Nick Rich, Neil Peart...all under one roof celebrating the most celebrated drummer of all time...truly a world class event. Words are obviously not enough, so I'm posting a few shots from the show and inviting you to visit www.DrumChannel.com to get a taste of what it was all about.
 Peart |  Blackwell |  Smith |
|---|---|---|
 Bozzio |  Cathy Rich |  Igoe |
The Awkward Stage
This Vancouver based band came to my attention through Tony Koelwyn and Chris Walters - a couple of local drummer type pals of mine. Tony is TAS' drummer and recorded this album and used a number of Dunnett Classic drums on it. Not only was I impressed with the performances and the production, but the songs are quite good and it's been playing inthe background while I toil away in my shop on these cold winter nights. Click on the album cover for a Youtube flick.
http://www.theawkwardstage.ca/The_Awkward_Stage/Home.html
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